RUHR, GERMANY - Society for Industrial Archeology

From Salt to Stainless Steel:
Touring the IA Heritage of Syracuse, New York
October 11-14,2001
The 2001 SIA Fall Tour will explore Syracuse, NY. Once a
major center for 19th-century salt production and still
known as the Salt City, Syracuse and its surroundings
today boast an incredible diversity of industrial products
and processes. This year’s tour will be sponsored by the Onondaga
Historical Association, which operates the county historical
museum and research center.
A couple of preview events are planned for Thursday. Early
arrivals can sign up to board the City of Syracuse as it plies the
waters of the State Barge Canal and “locks through” at
Baldwinsville. The boat, of recent construction but in the style of
lake steamers of the late 19th century, will then take a spin into
Onondaga Lake, once the heart of the city’s defining salt industry.
That evening, participants will have the option of attending
Under the Eyes of Gambrinus, a beer-tasting celebration at the
OHA Museum.
Over the next two days of tours, participants will visit Marsellus
Casket, founded in 1871 and one of America’s leading producers of
fine wooden caskets. Several U.S. presidents rest for the ages in this
Syracuse product. We also will see remnants of the mid-19th-century
Erie and Oswego Canal, including aqueducts, locks, and a dry
dock repair facility dating from 1855, currently under restoration.
Another sojourn will be to the Jamesville Quarry, where a blast
demonstration will be offered. Also planned are visits to Crucible
Steel, a specialty tool steel maker started in 1876; Baker Wood
Products Engineering Lab at the State University of New York
School of Environmental Science and Forestry, one of the nation’s
leading centers for forest management and wood products study;
Syracuse China; Camillus Cutlery, a make of high-grade knives,
begun in 1876; and the Woodland Reservoir, heart of Syracuse’s
1894 water delivery system from Skaneateles Lake. A ride on
Syracuse’s in-city rail system, OnTrack, will offer a narrative of
Geddes pumphouse, ca. 1930.
Society for Industrial Archeology Newsletter, Vol. 30, No. 2, 2001
Solar salt workers, ca. 1900.
several former industrial sites and a special stop to explore the
ruins of the 1860 Geddes brine pump house, one of just two surviving
structures of the once mighty salt industry. Additional tour
stops are being investigated.
A reception at the OHA Museum will start the Saturday
evening festivities. Several unique venues are under consideration
for the banquet, some dependent on renovation schedules, so
stay tuned. Sunday morning will bring walking tours of downtown
Syracuse’s historic architecture with stops at the Erie Canal
Museum, housed in an 1850 canal weighlock, and the Museum of
Automobile History, boasting one of the largest private collections
of automobile literature and graphic materials in the nation.
Due to the high demand for lodging in Syracuse in the fall
(Syracuse Univ. events, etc.), three hotel options are available.
Two are historic properties in the downtown area, within easy
walking distance of the OHA Museum, the Museum of Science
and Te c h n o l o g y, and Armory Square, a renovated 19th-century
commercial district boasting several restaurants and night spots. A
third, suburban choice is also available at reduced cost. Shuttles
will be provided. Registration materials are due out in late summer.
Info: Dennis Connors, (315) 428-1864; d j c o h a @ j u n o . c o m .■
Jamesville Quarry when it was providing limestone for the
production of soda ash, 1921.
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